Page 28 of Welcome Home

It was a little after seven in the evening, and I was at Lula Ann and Rome’s house. I left my office a little after five. It took no time for me to pack my bag. Shit, our weekenders were still packed. In that bag, I had enough clothes for three days, so I put more outfits in my garment duffel bag.

I texted Rome when I pulled into the driveway to tell him to open the door. He was on the porch when I got out of my car. He shook his head the entire time I walked toward him. “You a crazy boy. She’s in here looking like her puppy ran away. I didn’t tell either of them that you were coming through.”

“Good! I love a damn surprise,” I said after I dapped him. “Let’s get in here so I can see my baby.”

He moved to the side to let me be the first to walk into the house. When I walked in the living room, I announced myself. “Family! What’s up?”

Lula Ann and Kee’s head turned so fast that I thought it would snap off their shoulders. Kee’s eyelids stretched wide. “Falcon, what are you doing here?”

I didn’t give her an answer. My bags needed to go into my designated room. Rome’s house was a five-bedroom house where two of the rooms were guest bedrooms. I knew that Kee would be in one of those.

Lula Ann moved into Rome’s house a few months before Kee and I moved in together. Their relationship developed at warped speed. It was different to see Rome in love, especially with a personality like Lula Ann. She was a live wire, and so was he. In the past, he dated women who were live wires, but there was clearly something that was different about Lula Ann. They were amazing together.

I found the room that Kee was in. In my mind, there was no rush, so I took the time to put my things up. Kee said that she planned to stay here for a week, but I swore that there were enough clothes between the closet and the drawers to stay here for a month.

“Falcon, what the hell are you doing?” Kee’s voice touched my ears from the door where she stood. Her face was bunched up when I turned to see her. She still was beautiful.

I paused for a moment to walk over and taste her lips. She didn’t deny my kiss. “Hey, baby. I’m putting my stuff up. You said that we were staying here for a week.”

“No, I said that I was staying here for a week. You know I didn’t say we, Falcon. Don’t do this.” Her voice was soft as she walked into the room. She closed the door behind her.

I stared at her for a beat before I went back to my task. “When you say me, you mean we, love. I’m not sure what this is, but what I’m doing is being with my woman. We don’t do the sleep in separate beds.”

Her huff was exaggerated just like the plop on the bed. “Falcon, I know you read my text because you’re here. Why are you doing this?”

When she asked the question, I decided to stop so we could have a real conversation. I sat on the bed with my body turned toward her. She smelled good as fuck.

“Mazikeen, yes, I read your text. Your feelings are valid. I want to say that first. Next, I want to tell you that the whole breakup shit ain’t going to fly. You don’t get to quit on this relationship. When I committed to you, I committed to everything that came with you including those delusions that made you think that you could break up with me in a fucking text. Hell, the delusion that you could break up with me at all,” I said with a titter.

Her head dropped, and her shoulder lifted. “Falcon, I don’t want you to feel stuck. I know you say you signed up for this, but I just can’t believe that.”

My head tilted. “How the hell are you gonna tell me how I feel? My love, what you believe and what is true can be different. I don’t give a fuck about all that shit you was popping in your text about hospital visits, dialysis, pills, and other shit. Kee, I met you at the fuckin’ dialysis clinic. You were in a recliner in the middle of a treatment. Let’s get logical for a second.

“My mother has had lupus for over twenty-five years. Granted, hers doesn’t affect her kidneys, but she has lived with this disease. I have seen my father take care of her for years and have even helped take care of her. It’s not like I’m a man that is oblivious about what it takes to be with a woman that has lupus.” My body shifted more toward her. “If I felt like at any time this would have been too much, I would have left your ass right there in that seat.”

I needed her to understand that I had options, and I still chose her. It was what it was. I loved the fuck out of this woman.

She gazed at me for a second before a tear fell. “I don’t want you to resent me. There’s a chance that I could be on dialysis for many more years or forever. I may never get a kidney. Or worse, I get one and the lupus affects that one too.”

My hand lifted so that my finger could wipe the lone tear. “Baby, you’re worried about something that will never happen. I know that one day, we will get that call for a kidney. We just have to be patient.”

The wheels in my head turned. Should I? Yeah, I think I am. There was something that I wanted to give her. She watched me get up and move to the closet where I stored my bags that I unpacked. I retrieved what I needed, then returned to my seat.

She gazed down at my hand. Her head didn’t lift when she asked her question. “What is that?”

The side of my finger went under her chin and lifted her head. “Mazikeen, I love the fuck out of you. We are locked in. You are my home, and I refuse to let you give me a vacation notice. With that being said.” I stood, then bent on one knee. “I want you to be my home forever, and I want you to allow me to be yours.

“Will you marry me?” I opened the ring box. This ring had burned a hole in my pocket for months at this point. This wasn’t the way that I envisioned the proposal, but it was the right time. I knew that in my heart.

Her hand covered her mouth. The lone tear had company. “You want to marry me? Are you sure?”

I chuckled. I responded as I took the ring out of the box. “Kee, I’m not about to play with you. You see me on bended knee and going to ask me if I’m sure.”

She laughed when I grabbed her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. When I asked her how it fit, she smiled. “It’s a tiny bit big, but it won’t fall off.”

“Yeah, that’s intentional. I wanted it to have a little room for the days that your finger might swell. You still haven’t given me an answer,” I pointed out.

She looked at the ring as tears continued to flow. After what felt like forever, she gazed at me. “Yes, I will marry you.”